Printing unit



July 7, 1964 F. HILPERT 3,139,819

PRINTING UNIT Filed March 16, 1961 3 Sheets-Sheet l 1 2 11 ZON 12 11 9 11 s 9 1 11 A 1 8 4 1111111151110 1 B 11 s 1 5 1 e c L 1 e 1 1 "I g s o M u 5 1 4 E 11 v 4 3 1 g 1 a F o w s 10 n 2 2 G P X H 1 -1 11 a Y 1 12 o o I R z o ZONE v11111ou1 9 EMPTY FIG. 6 111111.0ss1c111111011 FIG. 7

m H/m FRITZ HILPERT ADV/MT) y 7, 1964 F. HILPERT 3,139,819

PRINTING UNIT Filed March 16, 1961 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 July 7, 1964 F. HILPERT 3,139,819

PRINTING UNIT Filed March 16, 1961 3 Sheets-Sheet s FIG.4

FIG.5

United States Patent "'ce 3,139,819 PRINTING UNIT Fritz Hilpert, Boblingen, Germany, assignor to International Business Machines Corporation, New York, N.Y., a corporation of New York Filed Mar. 16, 1961, Ser. No. 96,186 Claims priority, application Germany Mar. 31, 196i) 2 Claims. (Cl. 101--93) This invention relates to printing apparatus and more particularly to a print mechanism of the type having particular utility in business machines such as an accounting machine where printing is effected in connection with the analyzing of an indicia-bearing member such as a punched card or the like.

In punched card machines, electric pulses generated when the punched cards are sensed may be used to set up one or more printing units. It is common practice to have numeric data represented on a card by a single perforation whereas alphabetic data or special characters are designated by two perforations. In connection with the present invention, this convention is followed by providing that the setup of a numeric digit is effected by a single electric pulse while a letter or a special character is set up by two pulses.

It is general usage in such printing units to synchronously move a type carrier or a setup element for a type carrier with the indicia-bearing record as it passes through a sensing station. If an indicia is detected, the type carrier or the setup element thereof is stopped by some means controlled by an electric pulse. The type elements on the type carrier are so arranged that the digit corresponding to the indicia being sensed is in printing position at that time. In alphabetic printing, the situation is somewhat more complex inasmuch as in setting up the type carrier, two pulses must be considered which may occur within a plurality of intervals of time different from the number of characters being selected. Previously, the type carriers for alphabetic and numerical printers have 'been bar shaped which in general were set up through the operation of differential drives operable to arrest the carriers in one of a number possible positions. Where the number of characters to be printed is large, e.g. 38-48, the distance of displacement was extensive, high setup speeds were required, and very high forces were produced requiring complex mechanism and controls in the setup drive units. In order to avoid the disadvantages occurring in the printing units for bat shaped type carriers as mentioned above, printing units were provided which were arcuate type carriers, frequently referred to as type sectors. Such type carriers, while providing some simplification, still involve substantial complexities.

Other printing mechanisms, for example those which utilize type wheels, have been setup through a mechanism requiring linearly displaceable racks and rotatably mounted gear segments. A measure of simplification was possible in such devices; however, because of the very narrow tolerances and the high susceptibility to disturbances, such designs have not been fully satisfactory.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an improved printing unit which substantially avoids the above mentioned disadvantages.

It is a particular object of the presentinvention to provide a printing unit having a particularly simple structure.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a printing unit which is suitable for printing both numeric and alphabetic information particularly for use in connection with indicia-bearing records such as cards or the like.

In general the above objects and others may be at- 3,13%,8lh Patented July 7., 1964 tained in accordance with the practice of the present invention by providing a type carrier which has a center of rotation which is shiftable angularly relative to a print location to effect the selection of certain individual type elements carried by the type carrier. More specifically, the present invention relates to a print mechanism including a type carrier such as a type sector or the like having a plurality of type elements thereon arranged in groups which is rotatable on its axis to make a group or field selection. The selection of an individual type element in a group otherwise referred to as a zone selection is obtained when the axis of rotation of the type carrier is angularly shifted relative to a print location. For making the group selection the type carrier is provided with a number of stops corresponding in number to the number of groups of type elements carried thereby. A field selection pawl operably coacts with the stops to arrest the rotation of the type carrier in different print positions corresponding to a group or field selection.

In other words, each angular position of the type carrier which is defined by a stop on the type sector corresponds to a group of characters. Considerable simplification is realized by rotatably mounting the type carrier on a pivotable lever or the like. The rocking of the lever results in the displacement of the axis of the type carrier to effect zone selection. The lever is provided with zone selection stops corresponding to the number of type elements in each of the type element groups on the type carrier. A second selectively controllable pawl operably coacts with the zone stops to arrest the lever in diiferent zone positions. Further simplification is realizable by moving the type carrier and the lever with a single camoperated bail operable in synchronism with the indiciabearing record being sensed. The arrangement and operation 'of the control pawls, type carrier and lever is such as to realize zone and field selection with a single electromagnet.

The foregoing and other objects, features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following more particular description of a preferred embodiment of the invention, as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a schematic portion of a side elevation of a printing unit showing it in the initial position from which type element selection begins.

FIGS. 2-5 are schematic elevation views showing various positions of a type sector and lever for the selection of various type.

FIG. 6 shows the arrangement of perforations on a punched card usable in connection with the print mechanism of FIGS. l-S.

FIG. 7 illustrates the arrangement of type elements on the type sector of the printing unit of FIGS. 1-5.

Referring to the drawings, FIG. 1 shows a print mechanism comprising a type sector 20 rotatably mounted in any well-known manner at point 21 on a lever 22 which is pivotally mounted to a stationary member 23 such as a frame at point 24. Type sector 20 may take various forms but is preferably a single piece having a first portion of its peripheral edge formed with a plurality of integral type elements 25 such as embossed characters. A second or control portion of the peripheral edge of type sector 20 immediately adjacent the type element portion is provided with a plurality of integral control stops such as teeth 26. The control portion of type sector 20 terminates in an integral tail piece 27, the purpose of which will be more fully explained hereinafter. The type elements 25 on type sector 20 are arranged in groups or fields. A tooth 26 is provided for each group. The angular separation of teeth 26 is proportionate to the angular separation of the type groups to which they correspond.

At the end remote from its pivot point, lever 22 has an integral zone control crossbar 28. The peripheral edge of crossbar 28 is provided with a plurality of integral control stops such as teeth 29. The crossbar 28 terminates in a tail piece 30 which extends beyond the stop portion, for a purpose to be more fully explained hereinafter. The number of teeth 29 is equal to the number of type elements 25 in a group on type sector 20 and the spacing of teeth 29 on a crossbar 28 is proportionate to the angular spacing between individual type elements 25 at the print location.

A print hammer 31 pivotally mounted at point 32 is controllably operated by means such as an electromagnet (not shown) in any well-known manner to cause a print medium such as paper 33 to be impacted against the type elements 25 which have been set up at the print location.

In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the print mechanism of FIG. 1 operates under the control of an indicia-bearing member such as punched cards. As

i is well known in such apparatus, punched cards 35 are fed seriatim to and from a read station by means such as feed rollers 36. In accordance with the present invention, a single reading brush 37 is provided at the read station which is electrically connected with a coil 60 of a control electromagnet and a power source such as a battery 61 which may have one end grounded. A grounded roller 38 coacts with brush 37 when a perforation is read to close the control circuit energizing coil 60.

Spring 40 connected at one end to type sector 20 and anchored at the other end applies a clockwise rotational bias to both type sector 20 and lever 22 for rotation about their respective points 21 and 24, urging them into contact with a cyclically operable selection control and restore bail 41. A crank 42 pivoted at fixed point 43 i and supporting bail 41 on one arm, carries a follower roller 44 or the like, on a second arm which is biased through the action of spring 40 into contact with a cyclically operable synchronizing and selection control cam 45 rotatably mounted on shaft 46.

A group or field selection pawl 47 pivotally mounted at fixed point 48 has a vertical arm 49 for engaging the 53 has a vertical arm 54 for engaging the zone control crossbar 28 of lever 22 and a horizontal arm 55 for contacting electromagnet armature 57. A spring 56 connected to the horizontal arm 55 of zone pawl 52 biases it counterclockwise around point 53 toward engagement with the tail piece 30 and the stop portions of crossbar 28 of lever 22. Armature 57 which is pivotally mounted at point 58 on core 59 of the control electromagnet is provided with a catch or the like to engage the upper portions of the horizontal arms 49 and 55 of the selection pawls 47 and 52 and when so engaged opposes the bias of springs 51 and 56.

It will be understood that the printing mechanism just described may be used at plural locations along a print line and plural hammer mechanisms 31 may be provided so that line printing on paper 33 may be obtained. It

. can further be understood that the operational description which follows, while applying to single print mechanisms will apply to a print apparatus where plural mechanisms are used as will be understood by persons skilled in the art.

By way of illustrating the principles of the present invention an alphanumeric code system accommodating thirty-nine characters will be described. For that purpose, twelve index points, 0-8, 9, 11, and 12 are provided on cards 35 as set forth in FIG. 6. In accordance with the practice of the present invention, the code indicia are arranged in a single row so that a single leaf brush 37 is used for reading both numeric and alphabetic information. The specific character selected by the combination of zone and field pulses derived from cards 35 may be seen by reference to FIG. 7. By way of example, the perforation on a card 35 at index point 12 followed by a perforation at index point 5 will operate to select a letter D while a single perforation at index point 5 will select a digit 5. Since the particular code selected produces a total of 40 possible characters and the illustrative example is to pertain to 39 characters, one code table position remains empty as indicated in FIG. 7. A third special character could, of course, be provided in that space.

As shown in FIG. 7, there are nine groups of characters, consequently, there will be nine groups of type elements 25 on type sector 20, the teeth 26, one for each group, are identified by the number designation 08 to correspond with the numeric designation established in FIG. 6. Further, as shown in FIG. 7, there are four characters in each type group, consequently, zone control crossbar 23 of lever 22 is provided with four teeth 29 identified respectively as 12, 11, 9 and N where N indicates the stop position for selecting certain numeric characters in various groups.

As a card 35 moving 12 index forward arrives at the read station, and the reading process begins, cam which is synchronized to rotate with the advancement of card 35 past brush 37, as is well known in the art, crank 42 rotating clockwise causes bail 41 to move clockwise thereby allowing lever 22 and type sector 20 to advance similarly in a clockwise direction under the bias force provided by spring 40. At the time sector 20 and lever 22 advancement is initiated, field selection pawl 47 and zone selection pawl 52 have their vertical arms 49 and 54 in contact with tail portions 27 and 30 respectively. Both pawls 47 and 42 in that position are latched by armature 57 of the selection control magnet. As index point 12 of card 35 arrives at brush 37 to be read, notch 12 of crossbar 28 has been advanced into position to be engaged by zone control pawl 52 and center of rotation 21 of type sector 20 has been shifted from line position a to b. At this point in the operation cycle, the first type character 25 of a group has been positioned at the print location. In the event the perforation is read at index point 12 on card 35, the circuit is closed from roller 38 through brush 37, coil 60, battery 61, and ground. Coil 60 being energized, armature 57 rotates clockwise around pivot point 58 out of contact with the ends of horizontal arms and thereby releasing pawls 47 and 52 respectively for rotation counterclockwise under bias forces supplied by springs 51 and 56. At that time, pawl 52 will so rotate causing arm 54 to engage crossbar 28 by dropping into notch 12, with the end of arm 54 clearing cam surface 57a of armature 57. Field selection pawl 47, however, is prevented from rotating counterclockwise by the obstructive action of tail piece 27 of type sector 20 on arm 49.

As card 35 advances from index point 12, the circuit including coil is disrupted deenergizing the same, causing armature 57 to be magnetically released so as to be rotated counterclockwise in a suitable manner (e.g. by spring bias action) to engage arm 50 of field control pawl 47. Zone selection pawl 52 having dropped into accordance with the arrangement in FIG. 6, electromagnet coil 60 is energized by a second pulse, armature 57 thereby is attracted for clockwise rotation about point 58 by core 59 releasing pawl 47 for counterclockwise rotation causing arm 49 to move into the appropriate field notch on type sector 20. At this point in the operation cycle, further setup movement of sector 20 will cease and the type element character 25 corresponding to the code character of FIG. 7 as identified by the perforations in card 35 will have been located in the print position. As the card 35 passes from the read station, coil 60 is deenergized, armature 57 will move counterclockwise, with cam surface 57a abutting cam surfaces 50a and 55a respectively of pawls 47 and 52. Cam 45 continues to rotate causing roller 44 to ride over a surface portion which produces no further type sector motion until after print operation occurs whereby hammer 31 strikes paper 33 against the selected type character 25. At a later period in the cycle of operation of cam 45, follower 44 is gradually raised causing crank arm 42 and bail 41 to turn counterclockwise thereby rotating type sector 20 toward the original position shown in FIG. 1. As type sector 20 is rotated counterclockwise, arm 49 riding over the edge of type sector 20 to the high point of a tooth 26 causes pawl 47 to be rotated clockwise in opposition to the bias of spring 51. The cam surface 50a at the extremity of arm 50 of pawl 47 operating on surface 57a cams armature 57 clockwise. As soon as the high point of the tooth 26 on the type sector 20 is reached, the end of arm 50 of pawl 47 clears the end of the latch of armature 57. Armature 57 now released by pawl 47 rotates counterclockwise and latches it clear of the field selection notches 0-8 of type sector 20. Meantime, pawl 47 is held in that position by the armature 57 until the end of arm 49 of pawl 47 is riding on tail piece 27 of type sector 20.

At this position, bail 41 continues its counterclockwise rotation picking up lever 22 rotating it counterclockwise. If arm 54 of pawl 52 has entered either of the zone notches 12, 11, or 9 on crossbar 28, a tooth 29 associated with either of these notches will rotate pawl 52 clockwise against the bias of spring 56 causing cam surface 55a to contact cam surface 57a causing armature 57 to be cammed clockwise about the point 58. Since tail piece 27 of type sector 20 is now under the end of arm 49 of field selection pawl 47, the counterclockwise rotation of pawl 47 is prevented as arm 55 of zone pawl 52 cams armature 57 clockwise. When arm 54 of zone pawl 52 rides on the high surface of a tooth associated with the notches 9, 11, or 12 of crossbar 28, the end of arm 55 clears the latch portion of armature 57 which under bias of a suitable spring armature 57 will move counterclockwise latching both pawls 47 and 52 in preparation for the beginning of a second cycle.

FIG. 2 shows the position of pawls 47 and 52 and notches 7 and 12 respectively so that character B of FIG. 7 is set up for printing. FIG. 3 shows pawl 47 and notch 7 of pawl 52 and notch 11 setting up a character K in the same group of type elements 25. At that point, center of rotation, point 21, of the type sector 20 will have been shifted to position line 0.

Similarly FIG. 4 shows pawl 52 in zone notch 9 and pawl 47 in field notch 7 setting up a character S. Point 21 of type sector 20 has now been shifted from position line 0 to d.

FIG. 5 shows the pawl 52 in zone notch N of crossbar 28 with pawl 47 in field notch 7 setting up a numeric character 7. The center of rotation 21 of type sector 20 has been shifted from position line d to a. It is noted that pawl 52 in position N is still latched by armature 57. In that event, as type sector 20 is rotated counterclockwise by bail 41 on the restore part of the operation cycle, as previously described, only pawl 47 is reset to be latched by armature 57. This will occur before bail 41 picks up lever 22 to reset it to the initial position where pawl 52 engages the high portion of tail piece 30 of crossbar 28. The restoration of lever 22 to position of FIG. 1 of course results in the reshifting of center point 21 of type sector 20 to line position a.

While the invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to a preferred embodiment thereof, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that the foregoing and other changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. In an apparatus having record analyzing means, a print mechanism operable in response to said analyzing means comprising a pivotable lever, a type sector rotatably mounted on said lever, said type sector having a plurality of type elements arranged in predetermined groups, said type sector having field selection stops corresponding with said groups carried thereby and said lever having zone selection stops corresponding with the number of type elements in said groups, means for rotating said sector on said lever and for rotating said lever about its pivot, and means for selectively limiting the degree of rotation of said sector and said lever whereby a group and individual type elements therein are positioned at a print location, including first and second selectively operable selection members controllably operable by a control member electrically operable for respectively engaging said type sector and said lever upon successive electrical pulses from an indicia-bearing record or the like.

2. In an apparatus having record analyzing means, a print mechanism in accordance with claim 1 in which said stop means comprises notches or the like integral with said type sector and said lever, and said type sector has means for preventing the operation of said first selection member by said electrically operable control member when said second member is operated thereby whereby said first and second selection members are operable successively by successive pulses to said electrically op erable control member.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,090,920 Stuivenberg Aug. 24, 1937 2,291,970 Neumann-Lezius Aug. 4, 1942 2,413,875 Lang Jan. 7, 1947 

1. IN AN APPARATUS HAVING RECORD ANALYZING MEANS, A PRINT MECHANISM OPERABLE IN RESPONSE TO SAID ANALYZING MEANS COMPRISING A PIVOTABLE LEVER, A TYPE SECTOR ROTATABLY MOUNTED ON SAID LEVER, SAID TYPE SECTOR HAVING A PLURALITY OF TYPE ELEMENTS ARRANGED IN PREDETERMINED GROUPS, SAID TYPE SECTOR HAVING FIELD SELECTION STOPS CORRESPONDING WITH SAID GROUPS CARRIED THEREBY AND SAID LEVER HAVING ZONE SELECTION STOPS CORRESPONDING WITH THE NUMBER OF TYPE ELEMENTS IN SAID GROUPS, MEANS FOR ROTATING SAID SECTOR ON SAID LEVER AND FOR ROTATING SAID LEVER ABOUT ITS PIVOT, 